Innocuous piece by Paula Katinas shows a clear tipping of the scale(s) toward Pam Harris — and that almost all Republican Marty Golden’s levers are being worked invisiblyAGAINST Republican candidate Lucretia Regina-Potter

Look at these magic words — “.... Harris... has frequently campaigned in the Bay Ridge end of the district. She attended the 49th annual Ragamuffin Parade and recently sat in on a meeting of the Merchants of Third Avenue.... In many campaign appearances, Harris has pointed out that her father lived in Bay Ridge...” — now tell me what jumps out at you from that

Then, look at these very routine and completely non-magical words — “.... Several elected officials have come forward to endorse Harris. The officials backing Harris included U.S. Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, U.S. Rep. Jerrold Nadler, Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams, state Sen. Diane Savino, Assemblymember William Colton and Councilmember Mark Treyger [and, to be Shakespearean, the rest is silence....]” — now tell me what jumps out at you from that silence

I’m doing this post before the last week-end of the 2015 election campaign. There are lots of things going on; and maybe some (or even just one) of them might change my observation(s) and opinion — BUT — I’m not expecting anything will change.

THE “DOG WHISTLE” — THAT DIDN’T BARK

Many election campaigns are a lot like paint-by-numbers pictures. The one’s done by people with no artistic heart and soul inside of them look like paint-by-numbers pictures; the ones done by people with real artistic sensibilities look like actual artwork.

Earlier this week, a very quiet looking and sounding article in the Brooklyn Eagle actually showed something that was really something closer to a symphony or opera (See “Bay Ridge Assembly seat up for grabs in Nov. 3 election” by Paula Katinas, 10/26/15, The Brooklyn Eagle [http://www.brooklyneagle.com/articles/2015/10/26/bay-ridge-assembly-seat-grabs-nov-3-election]). In the background to that article by Paula Katinas were two parallel campaigns — both being run to elect Democrat Pamela Harris as the 46th AD’s next Member of the NYS Assembly. On the one hand, it showed Ms. Harris formally being introduced into significant parts of the Bay Ridge establishment; and on the other, it showed that nothing like that was going on for the Republican candidate Lucretia Potter.

Early articles in various local and at least one city-wide paper pointed out that the Democratic party nominee, Pamela Harris, was a black woman, who had run a non-profit organization in Coney Island after she retired as a NYC Corrections Officer. Several of those articles also noted that GOP candidate Lucretia Potter had a good chance to win because of the demographics of the district and the fact that no black person had ever been elected to represent a majority white district in NYC.

Political realities being what they are, for Potter to have had a real chance to win in the 2015 special election in the 46th AD, the dog whistles in Bay Ridge and Dyker Heights would have had to be cranked up so loud that they would’ve sounded like the Fort Hamilton High School Marching Band practicing late on a night before a game. The back-beat of that dog whistle march needed to have been that Pam Harris was just not a right fit to represent neighborhoods like Bay Ridge and Dyker Heights — and that message needed to come from several branches of the “non-political” establishment of those communities.

If any such dog whistles ever sounded, then only a small pack of K-9s in the 46th AD was able to hear them. What actually happened was that Pam Harris repeatedly was introduced around Bay Ridge and Dyker like she were a dear cousin, whose welcome was not only appropriate, it was really what was best for everybody. Almost needless to say, the Ragamuffin Parade and Third Avenue Merchants did jump out as avatars of the Bay Ridge establishment in the Katinas article in “The Brooklyn Eagle” — btw, that it appears in a Katinas article in “The Brooklyn Eagle” makes is jump even higher.

BUT WHAT ABOUT STATE SENATOR MARTY GOLDEN’S FOLKS ? ? ?

Well, you might ask ! ! !

There is a subliminal message (sometimes not so subliminal) that has been repeatedly being pushed by many in the Bay Ridge establishment — one of the candidates running in the 46th AD special election really isn’t one of us. That part of the Bay Ridge crowd has often been identified with Republican State Senator Martin Golden — in fact, several of those people also self- identify as solid establishment or social conservative Republicans. The odd thing about it is that the one candidate running in the 46th AD special election, who was being whispered about as not really being one of us is the neighborhood business woman and long-time Republican activist, Lucretia Regina Potter. I don’t think that’s an accident, and it wouldn’t have happened unless Golden and/or several of his key insiders wanted it to.

You know what this all shows to me — that Republican-Conservative State Senator Marty Golden would never have ANYTHING to do with “Dog Whistle Politics” — AND — I’m sure that explains all of it, completely, with nothing else to do with it, no intra-party politics, no Brooklyn GOP leadership fights with Arnaldo Ferraro and/or Craig Eaton, none of that — I repeat: I'm sure — maybe even, certain.....

Wednesday, October 28, 2015

The quick reaction and repeated articles by Hillary Clinton’s media bodyguards to Matt Drudge’s exclusive revelation about Hillary’s health issues being exposed at the Benghazi Hearing shows that somebody on Hillary’s side of things is taking Drudge’s observations and “Health Warning” for Mrs. Clinton very seriouslyThanks to Matt Drudge, his tweets and his iconic internet resource, “DRUDGE REPORT” — the Issue of Hillary Clinton’s HEALTH was raised in the context of her appearance in front of the Benghazi Committee — Predictably, Hillary’s media bodyguards were quick to respond and pounce on Matt DrudgeAnd btw — WHERE ARE those medical and hospitalization records involving Hillary Clinton’s post-Benghazi circulatory event and serious cerebral accident

At 10:26 PM and at 10:57 PM both on October 22nd 2015, Matt Drudge sent a pair of Tweets that were the beginning of a war of words concerning health concerns about Hillary Clinton due to her appearance, speed of talking and certain physical responses at the Benghazi Hearing. In those two tweets, Drudge said, “Hillary health was biggest revelation at hearing. Coughing fit. Slow-speaking, obviously induced by meds. Choose not to believe if yo must.... Last time she showed up with prism glasses from blood clot, vertigo. Today obvious anti-anxiety meds, hypothyroid issues. #BenghaziCommittee....” Shortly, thereafter a headline in the “Drudge Report” proclaimed, “HILLARY HEALTH WARNING: COUGHING FIT...”

TOP CLINTON SPOX AMONG FIRST TO REPLY TO THE DRUDGE’S TWEETS CONCERNING HRC’S BEHAVIORS AND PHYSICAL RESPONSES AT THE BENGHAZI HEARING OF 10/22

One of the earliest responses to the Drudge observations and interpretation of those observations was Hillary Clinton and Clinton Campaign spokesperson Nick Merrill. This very high-up Clinonista replied by Twitter to what Drudge had Tweeted by contending that he considered Mrs Clinton’s only having a “little dry mouth” after such lengthy testimony to be a “good day.” That Tweet was as follows: “Nick Merrill @NickMerrill .... .@DRUDGE if a little dry mouth is all you've got after 10+ hours of testimony, that's what I would call a ‘good day.’... cc:@KarlRove.... 11:48 PM - 22 Oct 2015 ”

Within hours, one of HRC’s most important media bodyguards, was among the first to launch a counterattack on behalf of former Secretary of State Clinton and her presidential campaign against Drudge’s Benghazi Hearing observations and “medical report.”

The Media Matters piece closed with this observation: “.... Conservative media previously promoted the conspiracy theory that Clinton faked a concussion to avoid testifying on Benghazi in 2012.” MM made no attempt to explain what significance that snarky remark might have in connection with the Drudge tweets about Hillary’s cough and slow speech at the 10/22 Benghazi hearing. Neither did Media Matters seem to note that Drudge apparently accepted the evidence of Hillary Clinton’s manifest disability during her earlier appearance.

SOON AFTER, THE LEFTISH “POLITICUS USA” TOOK IT’S OWN POLEMICAL SWIPE AT WHAT THEY THOUGHT WAS DRUDGE’S WAY-OFF-BASE HILLARY BENGHAZI HEALTH REPORT ON 10/22

There was more offal being tossed at Drudge by 2:43 PM on the afternoon of 10/23/15. According to a post by Sarah Jones that appeared on Politicus USA, “Unable to deal with Hillary Clinton’s masterful dominance and unflappable poise, Matt Drudge announced to the world that the Benghazi hearings actually did something important by revealing that Clinton was on drugs due to a health issue, possibly anti-anxiety medication.... ‘Today obvious anti-anxiety meds, hypothyroid issues,’ the right winger concluded, completely missing the reality bus....” (See “Unable to Deal with Hillary’s Dominance, Conservative Accuses Clinton of Being on Drugs” by: Sarah Jones, 10/23/15, Politicus USA [http://www.politicususa.com/2015/10/23/unable-deal-hillarys-masterful-dominance-drudge-accuses-medication.html]).

Ms. Jones piece went on to say, “.... Detective Drudge has discovered that Hillary Clinton was coughing and speaking slowly, which means — if you will get out your right wing conspiracy chalk boards, please — that Hillary Clinton is on drugs....”

However, giving a better taste of the full flavor, of what an obvious Hillarybot Sarah Jones is, are these lines: “.... [What the Republicans] did instead of take her down was show the world that they were fools and she was presidential. Ironically, Republicans gave Hillary Clinton a chance to show voters that her temperament could be cool, measured and distantly superior.... But Hillary Clinton was obviously on drugs, y’all! Believe Matt Drudge, not your lying eyes and ears....”

PHILLIP BUMP’S ATTEMPT AT A “FIX” IN A WASHINGTON POST COLUMN — DOES HE QUESTION HRC'S DOCTOR ? — NO, BUMP SPOKE TO HIS OWN DOCTOR

The next defense to Drudge’s 10/22 HILLARY HEARING HEALTH HIT was by Phillip Bump at the Washington Post, who had this to say: “The biggest story of Hillary Clinton's marathon testimony before the House Select Committee on Benghazi was not that there wasn't much of a story. At least not in the estimation of conservative blogger Matt Drudge.... For Drudge, the biggest story was Hillary Clinton's health.... ‘Hillary health was biggest revelation at hearing,’ Drudge tweeted shortly after the hearing ended. ‘Coughing fit. Slow-speaking, obviously induced by meds. Choose not to believe if you must.’... He went on to issue his assessment of her illnesses.... [Bump then showed a capture of the screen of Matt Drudge’s Tweet, quoted above] (See “Which doctor is smarter about Hillary Clinton: Matt Drudge or a doctor?” by Phillip Bump, 10/23/15, Washington Post/ The Fix [https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2015/10/23/an-actual-doctor-disagrees-with-matt-drudges-diagnosis-of-hillary-clinton/]).

So what did Phillip Bump do next ? He called his OWN doctor and this is what he came up with to push back against the Drudge Report: “.... Matt Drudge is not a doctor. So I called my doctor to see how seriously we -- and Clinton -- should take Drudge's diagnoses. Philip Weintraub is an internist and cardiologist who has been practicing medicine for 35 years, since Matt Drudge was 14. ‘I think he has an active imagination,’ Weintraub said of Drudge. ‘I think he's probably Googled and seen that there may be some overtones to this in other people.’ That’s the basis of Bump’s column for the WaPo.

Both Bump and his Doctor Weintraub went on to pretend that they had debunked Drudge’s observations and theory that Hillary Clinton exhibited symptoms of “[s]low-speaking, obviously induced by meds” and “hypothyroid issues.”

However, inconveniently, Hillary Clinton's own medical personnel have said that she does, in fact, suffer from hypothyroidism. Also, quite Interestingly, Phillip Bump had to add this quote from Doctor Weintraub: “I'm not saying that it's healthy [referring to Hillary’s slow-speaking throughout her testimony and her couching fit late in the proceedings].... But certainly it should not under the circumstances be presumed as unhealthy....”

Some among the conservative media types took serious exception to what Mr. Bump and the Washington Post were trying to pull on Matt Drudge. One of the best rebuttals of Phillip Bump and Bump's personal doctor was a piece that appeared on the MRC Newsbusters blog (See “Wash Post's Bump: My Doctor Trumps Hillary's Doctor in Assessing Her Health” by Tom Blumer, 10/24/15 | October 24, 2015, MRC Newsbusters [http://newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/tom-blumer/2015/10/24/wash-posts-bump-my-doctor-trumps-hillarys-doctor-assessing-her-health#sthash.EeUirEtO.dpuf]).

MANY IN THE CONSERVATIVE PRESS AND MEDIA TOOK THE DRUDGE-CLINTON HEALTH REPORT AT OR NEAR FACE VALUE

Typical of most of the right-wing press and media, the Washington Examiner made the following observations in its report on the story that Drudge broke: “Matt Drudge, founder and editor of the influential Drudge Report, believes Hillary Clinton was hopped up on anti-anxiety medication during her testimony Thursday in front of the Republican-led House Benghazi Select Committee.... Clinton's doctor Lisa Bardack said publicly over the summer that the Democratic presidential frontrunner was in "excellent physical health," but did admit that she was taking blood thinning medication for her thyroid.... Drudge, along with some other conservatives, have suggested in the past that Clinton is hiding serious health issues. In his latest book, ‘Unlikeable: The Problem With Hillary,’ controversial author Ed Klein wrote that Clinton is facing ‘mounting health issues.’...” ( See “Clinton's voice was slowed down by meds, says Drudge” by Eddie Scarry, 10/23/15, The Washington Examiner [http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/clintons-voice-was-slowed-down-by-meds-says-drudge/article/2574791]).

One of the first mentions of Drudge’s raising Hillary Clinton’s health issues as a result of her coughing and slow-talking before the Benghazi Committee was an article that appeared in Glenn Beck’s “The Blaze” at 12:01 AM, in the “morning” of 10/23/15 (See “Matt Drudge Reveals What He Thought Was ‘Biggest Revelation’ From Clinton Benghazi Testimony” by Oliver Darcy, 10/23/15 [http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2015/10/23/matt-drudge-reveals-what-he-thought-was-biggest-revelation-from-clinton-benghazi-testimony/]).

The article in “The Blaze” contained recaptured images of Drudge’s Tweets and a “Drudge Report” headline that said “HILLARY HEALTH WARNING: COUGHING FIT – DRUDGE REPORT.” That Blaze item also reported on Hillary Clinton spokesperson Nick Merrill’s reply Tweet to Matt Drudge with the recaptured image of that Merrill Tweet.

DRUDGE TAKES THE PUSH-BACK BY THE PRO-CLINTON FORCES IN STRIDE — HE EVEN LINKS TO THEIR STORIES

Matt Drudge seems somewhat bemused by all of this attention from Hillary’s folks. So when some clearly Hillary Clinton-supporting trolls blogged on the same theme five days after his initial Tweets on the night of the Benghazi Hearing, Drudge linked their negative coverage on his own iconic blog, the “Drudge Report” (See “DRUDGE REPORT – Why is DRUDGE REPORT weirdly obsessed with Clinton health?” by Matt Drudge, 10/27/15, Drudge Report [http://www.drudgereport.com/] [with direct link to material quoted and cited directly below]).

THE BLOG POST ON POINT, PICKED-UP & LINKED BY DRUDGE — BY SUSAN J. DEMAS ON A BLOG CALLED “MLIVE.COM” (“MICHIGAN LIVE DOT-COM” ? ? ?)

The article selected by Matt Drudge started off like this: “We need to talk about Drudge.... That's Matt Drudge, the king of conservative media, whose old-school site has 2 million daily unique visitors and roughly 700 million monthly page views....”; and it went on to make this important point: “.... The famously reclusive Drudge rarely talks to the media and usually lets [his Drudge Report] site speak for itself. He's so paranoid that he routinely erases his own tweets.... [S]omething has changed. This month, he came out of hiding, doing an interview with wacky conspiracy theorist Alex Jones [ ].... Drudge's motivation seems clear: He's utterly terrified at the prospect of President Clinton. He doesn't see anyone else sufficiently leading the charge, so he must speak out.... ‘She's old and she's sick,’ Drudge declared desperately, slamming the media for ‘propping’ her up.... A few weeks later, Clinton testified before the hostile, GOP-led Benghazi Committee without breaking a sweat — something noted even by conservative pundits. That would seem to lay to rest any fears about her health and stamina.... But Drudge wasn't buying it with this blaring headline: ‘Hillary Health Warning: Coughing Fit.’ And he tweeted: ‘Last time she showed up with prism glasses from blood clot, vertigo. Today obvious anti-anxiety meds, hypothyroid meds.’...” (See “...Why is the Drudge Report weirdly obsessed with Clinton's health?” by Susan J. Demas, 10/27/15, Mlive.com/ Political [http://www.mlive.com/opinion/index.ssf/2015/10/matt_drudge_hillary_clinton_co.html#incart_river_home]).

So here’s how this Susan J. Demas tried to break Drudge’s bubble: “.... The Washington Post responded with an amusing fact-check: "Which doctor is smarter about Hillary Clinton: Matt Drudge or a doctor?" (Answer: The actual MD).... It's hard to believe anyone still listens to Drudge after all this. He's like a drifter screaming at street corners about the government putting fillings in his teeth. The difference, though, is Drudge has a big megaphone.... So plenty of people in the mainstream media will continue to take him seriously.”

Too bad – that Ms. Demas didn’t have the benefit of either this post or the MRC Newsbusters article cited above that rebutted the so-called amusing “fact-check” by Phillip Bump in the WaPo, also cited above..... Wait one minute, if Susan J.Demas did any real researching or did any meaningful“fact-check[ing]” of her own, she should have found Tom Blumer’s piece on MRC Newsbusters..... HMMMM ! ! !

BTW, WHERE ARE HILLARY CLINTON’S MEDICAL AND HOSPITAL RECORDS DURING HER TERM AS SECRETARY OF STATE ? ? ?

In the six months following the attacks in Benghazi on 9/11/2012, Hillary Clinton suffered a serious circulatory event and cerebral accident that rendered her disabled and incommunicado. That medical condition and the resulting period of recovery for the former Secretary of State interfered with the earlier Benghazi investigations. To date, the official medical records for that time period have not been produced either to the Benghazi Committee or to the American public.

Where are Hillary Clinton’s medical and hospital records from that immediate post-Benghazi period; and when will they be produced ?

Sometimes people who have their own personal crusades and personal vendettas, can get tangled up in bigger things – Other people, while looking for something big or momentous, might miss an obvious, but very localized, link that actually ties several other things together. Take for example the issue of a former DA’s community relations offices having been paid out slush funds coming from a sources like the DA’s secretive asset forfeiture fund. – The new U.S. Attorney in Brooklyn, Robert Capers, appears to have taken a sudden increased interest in all of that – At least two Marty Golden hands were involved in that Hynes community liaison operation

“Almost a dozen investigators from the Brooklyn US Attorney’s Office, the state Attorney General’s Office, and both the city and state comptroller’s offices asked the ex-staffers whether Hynes’ neighborhood community relations offices were being used as de facto campaign outposts in the 2013 race....” — NY POST, 10/19/15

The new federal prosecutor might have to look no further than this year’s special election for Assembly in the 46th AD to see the patterns of some interesting and possibly long-standing conspiracies — some strange things have happened already in the 46th AD and old patterns of strange bedfellows in Southwest Brooklyn might be re-emerging.

THE REPUBLICAN GAME AND GOLDEN’S GAMESMANSHIP — INCLUDING GOING TO COURT, AGAIN

All of this is still important to those involved with, or even just interested in, the Brooklyn GOP, because two of DA Hynes’ community liaison personnel in 2013 and before that were Brooklyn GOP State Senator Marty Golden insiders, Larry Morrish and Jack Malone; and as is well known, Golden is already being looked at on other matters by another U.S. Attorney, Preet Bharara — Now, there is another possible DA community relations person to add to the list of Morrish and Malone, Pam Harris, the Coney Island “community activist” now running as the Democratic Party candidate for the Assembly in the 46th AD.

Certainly most political activists in Southwest Brooklyn remember how hard Republican State Senator Martin Golden worked to get Brooklyn Democrat DA Charles “Joe” Hynes in 2013 elected on the Republican line – when briefly, it was thought to be a competitive inter-party general election race ? Many Republicans well recall, that Golden’s Hynes effort was in between Golden’s trying to get the Brooklyn Supreme Court to throw out the entire Brooklyn GOP leadership team of County Chairman Craig Eaton.

Well, it all seems to be happening again. Except this time it’s not at all clear whom Marty Golden is trying to “HELP” get elected as “HIS” candidate in the Special Election for the Assembly in the 46th AD; however, Golden is again trying to take out the entire GOP leadership team, this time of Kings County Republican Chairman Arnaldo Ferraro.

Some wags have told me that SSMG is already working against the candidate strongly backed by Republican County Leader Arnaldo Ferraro – Lucretia Regina-Potter. Potter is the Special Election Assembly candidate selected by former Chairman Eaton; she’s also an elected GOP State Committee person from the 46th AD and the Kings County Republican Party Secretary elected at the 2015 Convention. Also, through well-known surrogates, Senator Golden is trying to undue both Potter’s and Ferraro’s hold on their respective GOP offices in court [It should be noted that the Election case in Brooklyn Supreme Court has been adjourned until 12/4/15, well after the 2015 Special Election in November].

SOME OF GOLDEN'S CONNECTIONS TO THE DEMOCRATS ARE THROUGH THE OLD HYNES OPERATION

The current Democratic Assembly candidate, Pam Harris, is a Coney Island “community activist” who has had a significant prior relationship with Joe Hynes, who until 2013 was the long-time DA for Brooklyn. Harris is now running as the Democratic candidate for the Assembly in the 46th A.D.

One of my best Baker Street Irregulars, who has maintained many detailed records on former DA Hynes, many actually gathered inside the DA’s office, reports that Pam Harris received non-campaign funds to help conduct a very large event with the former Brooklyn DA in 2012.

DORMANT BROOKLYN DA CASE BEING LOOKED INTO BY NEW U.S. ATTORNEY

According to a report in the New York Post, one of former DA Hynes’ top lieutenants, Dino Ameroso, is running as the Democratic candidate for the position of Town Clerk of Hempstead, on Long Island ( See “Ex-deputy in Brooklyn DA’s ethics scandal running for office” by Carl Campanile, 10/12/15, NY Post [http://nypost.com/2015/10/12/ex-deputy-in-brooklyn-das-ethics-scandal-running-for-office/]). That article mentioned that several investigations of the Brooklyn DA’s Office connection to campaigning in the 2013 DA’s race apparently still did not have all their loose ends tied up.

In that regard, inside sources have indicated to me that the current Brooklyn DA, Mr. Kenneth Thompson, was not satisfied with the progress of the investigations by NYS AG Eric Schneiderman and/or by the former Brooklyn U.S. Attorney, who had been promoted to the post of U.S. Attorney General. As a result, there has been some recent movement on the case by the newly-appointed U.S. Attorney for Brooklyn and the rest of Long Island, Robert Capers.

Probably a manifestation of that new interest is reflected in a more recent NY Post feature. According to that article in the Post — “Federal prosecutors in Brooklyn interviewed two more people under subpoena last week, in addition to questioning multiple DA staffers and campaign workers in the past month, according to sources....” (See “Witnesses subpoenaed in Charles Hynes’ shady-spending case” by Josh Saul, 10/19/15, NY Post [http://nypost.com/2015/10/19/witnesses-subpoenaed-in-charles-hynes-shady-spending-case/]).

An important part of Josh Saul’s report reads as follows: “.... ‘The bottom line is, did anyone who worked on the campaign get paid with city funds or state funds or forfeiture funds? That’s really the issue,’ a source familiar with the probe said.... Investigators are also looking at whether the community relations workers were on the DA’s Office payroll or whether they were consultants paid from another source.... ‘Look, right before an election, maybe the staffers would advocate for the DA,’ a source close to Hynes’ old office said. ‘It wouldn’t surprise me if they said, “Make sure you vote for DA Hynes in the next election.”?’... Probers asked whether the workers organized political events, sought endorsements or handed out fliers on behalf of the Hynes campaign, sources said....”

CLOSE FRIEND AND MARTY GOLDEN INSIDER QUESTIONED BY INVESTIGATORS

Here’s where it gets interesting. A key man, who engineered the 2013 campaign for DA Hynes on the Republican and Conservative Party lines, is a very close and long-time Marty Golden associate, Dennis Quirk. He functions at a much higher political level than any mere community relations operative. Any large scale P.R./campaign event would be known to him and in many instances involve his direct involvement.

Given the fact that Ms. Harris has herself stepped up into the arena of elective politics, there should be some close scrutiny of her community based events, especially the soap box derby events, one of which is specifically discussed below. Of course any other items showing ongoing relations between Ms. Harris and either Mr. Hynes or Mr. Golden would be of similar or possibly even greater interest.

IN 2012 PAM HARRIS CONDUCTED A VERY LARGE EVENT ON BEHALF OF HER OWN GROUP CALLED “CONEY ISLAND GENERATION GAP (CIGG),” — THE PRODUCTION VALUES OF THAT EVENT INDICATED SIGNIFICANT EXPENSE BY THE OVERALL SPONSOR AND EVEN THE RACING TEAM SPONSORS — DA HYNES’ NAME WAS VERY PROMINENT AT THE 2012 EVENT AND HE WOULD APPEAR TO HAVE BEEN A MAJOR SPONSOR ALONG WITH SEVERAL OTHER DEMOCRATIC OFFICE HOLDERS

Here’s Hynes’ own write-up for the event: “DA Charles J. Hynes sponsored a soap box derby team for the 4th Annual Coney Island Generation Gap (CIGG) Soap Box Derby Race. Team Charles J. Hynes consisted of kids ages 7-10, who are members of CIGG, non-profit after-school organization based out of Coney Island, run by Executive Director Pamela Harris. They competed in a race against 23 other teams whose sponsors included the NYPD, FDNY, non-profit groups, and other elected officials. All kids received a prize for participating: the sponsored funds went to pay for school supplies and back-packs for each team participant, as well as a team t-shirt. Team Charles J. Hynes received 3rd place for their soap box car design....”
(See “Charles J. Hynes Soap Box Derby Team” by Joe Hynes, 9/12/12, You Tube [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZvLv6iXIU4]).

As has been demonstrated on this blog in several past feature articles, there is a strong nexus between the old DA Hynes community relations operation and operators and insiders still closely associated with Republican State Senator Golden. The swirl surrounding the Potter-Harris Special Election for the 46th AD seat seams to be stirring up old feelings and old associations; with Golden in 2015 seeming to be following his 2013 play book.

Friday, October 23, 2015

If you don’t get at least some of your news from conservative news sources, you probably might be thinking that Hillary Clinton sailed through yesterday’s House Select Committee on Benghazi Hearing without the slightest ripple of a problem for either her or her campaign for the presidency — BUT THAT’S NOT WHAT REALLY HAPPENED

Newsmax, the conservative news blog says that there were thirteen key points that “EMERGED” as a result of the House Select Benghazi Committee–Hillary Clinton Hearing of 10/22/15 — and those key points are now part of the record

In addition, it came out that during the time after the fall of Qaddafi and before the attack on the Benghazi Mission, there were more than 600 Benghazi security requests, which "... never reached Sec/State Hillary Clinton’s desk..." — BUT — Ther were 150 reports on Libya from HRC's "friend," Sidney Blumenthal, that got through to Sec/State Clinton directly

After the fact, it clearly seems that the Mainstream Media set such a low bar for Hillary Clinton to achieve a favorable outcome in front of the Benghazi Committee, that it was going to have been be called "An HRC Victory" if she didn’t either explode into flames in the hearing room or melt from a splash of water like the Wicked Witch in “The Wizard of OZ.”

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton testified in front of the House Select Committee on Benghazi for several hours on Thursday [and it was nowhere near the 11+ hours that some have reported -- just subtract the break times and you're down to about 8 hours]. During that hearing, while several of the GOP congressional panelists sought to hold her accountable for her role in the Sept. 11, 2012, terrorist attacks on the diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya, that killed Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens, U.S. Foreign Service Information Management Officer Sean Smith, and two CIA contractors, Tyrone S. Woods and Glen Doherty; all the Democrats on the panel ran interference for Mrs. Clinton using many diversionary tactics.

According to a report in Newsmax, there were thirteen key revelations that were raised during the hearing ( See “13 Shocking Revelations From Hillary's Benghazi Hearing’ by Nick Sanchez, 10/23/15, Newsmax [http://www.newsmax.com/TheWire/hillary-clinton-benghazi-hearing-revelations/2015/10/23/id/697712/]).

Here are the thirteen points that Newsmax says emerged at the 10/22/15 Benghazi Committee Hearing; and they are now matters of record:
1. Hillary Clinton originated the false narrative about a YouTube video protest;
2. Hillary Clinton repeatedly attempted to avoid any personal responsibility for Ambassador Stevens' death;
3. Hillary Clinton likely never spoke to "her friend" Chris Stevens after he became the Libyan Ambassador;
4. Ambassador Stevens didn't have Hillary Clinton's email address;
5. Hillary Clinton said she "knew and admired" Chris Stevens, but referred to him as "Chris Smith" on night of his death;
6. Hillary Clinton says that knew "nothing" about Ambassador Stevens’ meeting with amy al-Qaida affiliates;
7. Hillary Clinton’s “friend,” Sidney Blumenthal, had direct access to Sec/State Clinton, in a way that Ambassador Stevens did not;
8. Sidney Blumenthal was Hillary Clinton's "most prolific emailer on Libya";
9. Neither President Barack Obama nor his White House staff knew that Sidney Blumenthal was emailing Sec/State Clinton concerning her duties as Sec/State;
10. Not all Sidney Blumenthal's emails were “unsolicited,” as had been claimed by Hillary Clinton;
11. Hillary Clinton said she didn't know where Sidney Blumenthal's intel information was coming from;
12. The Benghazi Committee still didn't have all of Ambassador Stevens' emails from Dept/State at the time of the 10/22/15 hearing with Hillary Clinton; and
13. During her testimony on 10/22/15, Hillary Clinton suggested Ambassador Stevens was making a joke about security in one of his emails:

Here are some other key points that came out at the 10/22/15 hearing [with You Tube video links]:CONGRESSMAN MIKE POMPEO SHOWED THAT MORE THAN SIX HUNDRED (600+) SECURITY REQUESTS RELATED TO BENGHAZI SECURITY “DID NOT REACH HILLARY CLINTON’S DESK” — YET 150 OF SID BLUMENTHAL’S E-MAILS ABOUT LIBYA & BENGHAZI REACHED SEC/STATE CLINTON DIRECTLY

Congressman Mike Pompeo confronted former Secretary of State with the fact that there were over six hundred (600+) requests for security at Benghazi, Libya. He specifically noted that in 2012 alone, there were over 100 requests placed in the first quarter of 2013, 172 requests in the second quarter of 2012 and 83 requests in the third quarter and right up to the time of 9/11/12.
(See “Pleading For Security - 600+ Security Requests Never Reach Hillary Clinton - Benghazi Gate - F&F” by Mass Tea Party... From Fox & Friends, 10/23/15 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_cLOZ1eI-5s]).

In response, Hillary Clinton acknowledged the total of requests by her silence and denied none of the claims about the Blumenthal E-mails, instead she responded as follows: “.... ‘Congressman, as you’re aware, [Blumenthal’s] a friend of mine. He sent me information he thought might be of interest. Some of it was. Some of it wasn’t. Some of it I forwarded to be followed up on. The professionals and experts who reviewed it found some of it useful, some of it not.... He had no official position in the government, and he was not at all my adviser on Libya. He was a friend who sent me information that he thought might be helpful.... It was information that had been shared with him that he forwarded on, and as someone who got the vast majority of information that I acted on from official channels, I read a lot of articles that brought new ideas to my attention, and occasionally, people including him and others would give me ideas. They all went into the same process to be evaluated.’..."

To which Congressman Pompeo replied: “Yes, ma’am. I will tell you that the record that we’ve received today does not reflect that. It simply doesn’t. We’ve read everything that we could get our hands on. It’s taken us a long time to get it, but I will tell you, you just described all of this other information that you relied upon, and it doesn’t comport with the record that this committee has been able to establish today."

CONGRESSWOMAN SUSAN BROOKS’ CONFRONTED FORMER SEC/STATE HILLARY CLINTON WITH TWO DEMONSTRATIVE PILES OF HER OWN E-MAILS

In response to the Congresswoman’s question, Hillary Clinton said Chris Steven’s was sent into Benghazi on a Greek freighter on April 5, 2011 as her special representative to do “reconnaissance” – “... building relationships and gathering information...”

In 2011, when Chris Stevens was a “special representative” of Secretary of State Clinton, there were 795 E-mails from Hillary Clinton’s staff about Benghazi and Chris Stevens; in 2012 when Chris Stevens had become the Libyan Ambassador, there were only 67 E-mails related to Benghazi (See “Rep. Susan Brooks Confronts HIllary Clinton with Stack of Emails” from “TheBlaze” 10/22/15, You Tube [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QjHzBBAA4Jk]). As a result, Congresswoman Brooks told former Secretary of State Clinton that based on her E-mail records alone, it would appear that Hillary Clinton had "lost interest" in Libya, Benghazi and Chris Stevens

CONGRESSMAN JIM JORDAN CONFRONTED HILLARY CLINTON ABOUT HER E-MAIL TO CHELSEA CLINTON ON 9/11/12 – HER COMMUNICATION WITH EGYPTIAN PRESIDENT ON 9/12/12 – AND STATEMENTS OF GREG HICKS AND OTHER STATE DEPARTMENT PERSONNEL, ALL SAYING THAT THE 9/11/12 ATTACK WAS THE RESULT OF TERRORISTS NOT DEMONSTRATORS –AND IT WASN’T PART OF ANY DEMONSTRATION ABOUT A YOU TUBE VIDEO – HE ALSO CHARGED THAT THE “INFLAMMATORY VIDEO” NARRATIVE ORIGINATED WITH HILLARY CLINTON HERSELF ON 10/22/12, WHEN SHE KNEW THAT IT WASN'T TRUE

In a very dramatic moment, Hillary Clinton was directly confronted by Congressman Jim Jordan as knowing the truth that the assault on the Benghazi compound was a pre-planned attack by an Al Qaida-affiliated group on the evening of 9/11/12 and the morning of 9/12/12 — but at the same time, “...not squaring with the American people” and putting out the false narrative about some obnoxious internet video (See “Jim Jordan GRILLS Hillary Clinton About Video Benghazi Committee Hearing” by William Foster, 10/22/15, You Tube [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8OzrFDBMd0g]). Congressman Jordan based his charge on Hillary Clinton’s personal E-mail to her daughter Chelsea Clinton while the Benghazi attack was still going on; also a cable to the President of Egypt on 10/12/12; and various formal statements by State Department personnel at and shortly after the 10/11/12 Benghazi attack.

DEMOCRATS RELEASE THEIR OWN STAFF "REPORT" ABOUT THE BENGHAZI COMMITTEE TO LIBERAL BLOG, POLITICUS USA

According to a "report" in/on the pro-liberal-Democrat blog, "Politicus USA" --- "Democrats on the House Select Committee on Benghazi have released a damning 124-page report that finds no evidence of wrongdoing by Hillary Clinton, but a mountain of proof that the Republican-led investigation is a partisan sham...." (See "Republicans Leveled By Bombshell Report That Clears Hillary Clinton On Benghazi" by Jason Easley, 101915, Politicus USA

Easly's own "report" about the Democrat Staffers' "report" goes on to show just how partisan this "report" for the Democrat members on the Benghazi Committee really is:

"The report reveals that Clinton did nothing wrong and that the House Select Committee on Benghazi is nothing more than a partisan stunt that is designed to destroy the frontrunner for the Democratic nomination.

The evidence is laid out over the course of 124 brutal pages. Republicans have lied to the American people about the purposes and intentions of this committee. House Republicans have wasted millions of taxpayer dollars on an investigation that is finding nothing new.

The only evidence of wrongdoing found is on the Republican side of the aisle. The investigation into Hillary Clinton’s emails under the pretense of Benghazi is an illegal use of taxpayer funds for partisan political purposes...."

More about this "report" >>> and what the Dems are trying to pull <<< when I get it.....

Friday, October 16, 2015

Last night Chris Matthews was talking about BEN-GAZZZY; and he might have struck gold --- BUT --- It might have been gold for all Republicans trying to dismantle Hillary Clinton as a Presidential Candidate for 2016 or ever again

Matthews asked something very much like this straight forward question: "Why hasn't Hillary Clinton just told everybody everything that she did on the night of 9/11/2012 to try and save the life of her friend, Ambassador Chris Stevens ? I'm sure if she did that, all this BEN-GAZZZY stuff would pretty much disappear...."

You know, that really sounds like a great first question for Committee Chairman Gowdy to put to Hillary Clinton, as HIS own first question at the 10/22/15 Hearing of the Select Benghazi Committee

Actually, that particular question reflects >>>> ".... Something that has been lingering in the national conversation since the 9/11 anniversary terrorist attacks on the Benghazi compound in 2012 ... What was Hillary Clinton’s exact response to the attack on the State Department facility [in Benghazi]?"

There are very good reasons to question whether Secretary of State Hillary Clinton did everything that she possibly could to save Ambassador to Libya Christopher Stevens. For example, there is a credible report by CBS News that "... the Obama Administration did not convene its top interagency counterterrorism resource: the Counterterrorism Security Group, (CSG)...." (See "Sources: Key task force not convened during Benghazi consulate attack" by Sharyl Attkisson, 11/2/12, CBS News, [http://www.cbsnews.com/news/sources-key-task-force-not-convened-during-benghazi-consulate-attack/]). Needless to say, did Sec/State Hillary Clinton have a hand in or bear any responsibility for that failure ?

Here are some of Sharyl Atkisson's key points from the CBS News printed format report, whis is cited above: "CBS News has learned that during the Sept. 11 attack on the U.S. Mission in Benghazi, the Obama Administration did not convene its top interagency counterterrorism resource: the Counterterrorism Security Group, (CSG).... 'The CSG is the one group that's supposed to know what resources every agency has. They know of multiple options and have the ability to coordinate counterterrorism assets across all the agencies,' a high-ranking government official told CBS News. 'They were not allowed to do their job. They were not called upon.'... Information shared with CBS News from top counterterrorism sources in the government and military reveal keen frustration over the U.S. response on Sept. 11, the night Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans were killed in a coordinated attack on the U.S. Consulate in Libya...."

Sharyl Atkisson' long and detailed report --- from sources that were still quite fresh at the time in 2012 --- went on along that same line of critique and discussion.
Interestingly, Atkinisson's piece made specific note of the following: ".... The circumstances of the attack, including the intelligence and security situation there, will be the subject of a Senate Intelligence Committee closed hearing on Nov. 15, with additional hearings to follow.... "

HILLARY CLINTON'S PSYCHOLOGY JUST FOLLOWING THE TIME OF THE 9/11/12 BENGHAZI ATTACK

According to some of what's in Hillary Clinton's E-mails, which had been turned over to the Benghazi Committee, she was worried about what would be uncovered at those earliest hearings on Capitol Hill, of the kind mentioned in the Sharyl Atkisson report above.

In a NY Times report of 3/23/15 about one of HRC's E-mails indicated that "... A month after the September 2012 attack on the United States diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya, House Republicans grilled a top State Department official about security lapses at the outpost.... Later that day, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton tapped out an email to a close adviser: “Did we survive the day?” she wrote.... 'Survive, yes,' the adviser emailed back, adding that he would continue to gauge reaction the next morning...." (See "In Clinton Emails on Benghazi, a Rare Glimpse at Her Concerns" by Michael S. Schmidt, 3/23/15, NY Times [http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/23/us/politics/in-clinton-emails-on-benghazi-a-rare-glimpse-at-her-concerns.html?_r=2]).

The Schmidt-NY Times article goes to observe that ".... The roughly 300 emails from Mrs. Clinton’s private account that were turned over last month to a House [Select Committee on Benghazi] investigating the attack showed the secretary and her aides closely monitoring the fallout from the tragedy, which threatened to damage her image and reflect poorly on the State Department.... The emails showed Mrs. Clinton and her inner circle reacting as the administration’s view of what happened in Benghazi changed..."

However, the Times and Michael Schmidt missed an obvious conclusion that can be reached about Hillary's saying, “Did we survive the day?”

Forget the irony that the line is about hearings where four Amricans didn't survive the day. --- What the words in Hillary's E-mail indicate is her fear that something would come out at the early congressional hearings about Benghazi that would be devestating to the State Department and to Secretary Clinton, personally. It is certainly not the words of somebody who is confident that she had done the right thing under the circumstances.

WHAT WAS HILLARY'S ACTUAL RESPONSE TO THE ATTACK ON THE BENGHAZI MISSION

When Chris Matthews asked that question on 10/15/15, he was not the first pundit or observer to ask that question. Something like that has lnog been an item of very keen interest to many observers, pundits and GOP partisans. ".... Something that has been lingering in the national conversation since the 9/11 anniversary terrorist attacks on the Benghazi compound in 2012 has been: What was Hillary Clinton’s exact response to the attack on the State Department facility?" (See "5 Little Words from Hillary’s Benghazi Email That Four American Servicemen Never Had a Chance to Say" by Kyle Becker, 3/27/15, Independent Journal [ http://www.ijreview.com/2015/03/278852-hillary-asks-loaded-question-benghazi-email-4-american-servicemen-never-chance-ask/]).

That has been and remains a key unanswered question; and Trey Gowdy and his committee need to get that answer.

Wednesday, October 14, 2015

Seriously ? . ... I mean SERIOUSLY ! ! ! Was that a gaggle of geese or some other bunch of large feathered fowl on CNN during the time when any sensible person should have been watching Clayton Kershaw master all the Mets except for Daniel MurphyDuring the so-called "debate," the only person who talked about "credibility" and "ethics" as a necessary trait in a candidate for president was Lincoln Chafee -- Chafee talked about it in his opening; and Chafee talked about it in his closing; and, most important, Chafee talked about it in answer to a direct question posed by Anderson Cooper about Hillary Clinton's E-mails being a "huge" problem for her.None of the other candidates were willing to talk about Hillary's E-mails [but Jim Webb might have wanted to, but he was repeatedly cut off by the moderator, Mr. Cooper] --- AND --- Bernie Sanders even went so far as to say everybody, including the media, needed to stop focusing on Hillary's E-mails, or even talk about themSpeaking of Jim Webb, he was clearly being treated like he didn't belong on the debate stage by the folks at CNN, in the person of Anderson Cooper, the debate's moderator --- Whereas Lincoln Chafee was used as a foil by Cooper at a key moment when it looked like Cooper was trying to turn up the heat on Hillary about her E-mails scandal

FIRST, THE JIM WEBB PART

Let me start by saying there is a pretty even-handed report about what looked to me as if it were a total beat down of Democratic Candidate Jim Webb by the moderator, Anderson Cooper. And, of all places, that report showed up on "Mother Jones." Even though the opening of Max Blumenthal's piece, for/in MJ doesn't really tell the complete story, it's not unfair to the Vietnam hero and former Senator, James Webb, "Jim Webb needed to make a splash at Tuesday night's Democratic presidential debate, and his chance to do it arrived early. As the rest of the field sparred over the Iraq War and use of force in Libya and other countries, Webb tried to interject. It was time for the former Marine infantryman, the only person on stage with military experience, to lay the hammer of his combat experience and Pentagon leadership down on the rest of the field.... But when he finally got a chance to speak, Webb's answer was more of a lecture than a smackdown. He wandered from ethnic divisions in Iraq to a nuclear Iran before unexpectedly diving into the issue of China's rising power, one of the former Virginia senator's pet themes. He then finished by picking the first of many fights with moderator Anderson Cooper over his speaking time...." (See "Jim Webb Misses His Moment..." by Max J. Rosenthal, 10/14/15, Mother Jones [http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2015/10/jim-webb-democratic-debate]).

The way Blumenthal's article continued was not very far off-base, either: ".... It's those moments, which came off as petulant, that may define Webb among voters who know little about him. That, or for his jarring answer to the final question of the night, where he said the enemy he was proudest of making was one he killed in Vietnam.... "

The best part of the Blumenthal piece for the 1 or 2 percent of Democrats for Webb, and/or his other assorted rooters, was this: "....His finest moment was a respectful exchange with Sanders, in which Webb gracefully declined to take shots at Sanders' status as a conscientious objector during Vietnam and Sanders praised Webb's service and key role in passing the Post-9/11 GI Bill. Both men came off as thoughtful and humane, and Webb got a competitor to talk about his biggest political achievement. But in a debate that was generally civil and substantive, it wasn't enough...."

The end of the Mother Jones piece was a bit of a downer, but given the realities of the CNN debate, what else could it have been.....

THEN, THE LINCOLN CHAFEE PART

Once during the CNN debate last night, candidate and former Governor and Senator from Rhode Island, Lincoln Chafee talked about his deceased father, John Chafee, also a former Govenor and Senator. [As a matter of disclosure, I met John Chafee once, while he was Secretary of the Navy -- the man who introduced me to him was Captain James Webb, USMC, also the current Democratic Candidate for President].

I give kudos to Lincon Chafee because he was the only Democratic Candidate on the stage at the Wynne Casino in Las Vegas, who even alluded to Hillary Clinton's E-mails scandal.

As I reported in a comment about last night's CNN Democratic debate in the comments string to a prior post, ".... During the first Democratic debate, moderator Anderson Cooper had asked Hillary Clinton about the ongoing controversy surrounding her emails and her use of a private server during her tenure as Secretary of State.... After a verbal bouquet from Bernie Sanders to Hillary on the issue of the E-mails, Anderson Cooper then brought up Lincoln Chafee’s past criticism of Clinton on the subject; and he asked Chafee if he stood by his prior harsh statements, including that the E-mails issue was a huge problem for Mrs. Clinton.... Former Senator and Governor Chafee replied with this: 'Absolutely. We have to repair American credibility after we told the world Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction which he didn’t, so there’s an issue of American credibility out there. So anytime anytime someone’s running to be our leader, and a world leader, which the American President is, credibility is an issue out there with the world. And we have repair work to be done. I think we need someone that has the best in ethical standards as our next President.'... Although he did not specifially address his comments to Hillary Clinton , given the context of Anderson Cooper's question, Lincoln Chafee's statements about '[having to] to repair American credibility,' 'an issue of American credibility,' 'someone’s running to be our leader, and a world leader, which the American President is, credibility is an issue' and 'best ethical standards as our next president' were clearly open-ended references to Hillary Clinton's problems in those areas...."

My comment to the post immediately below this one ended with this: ".... Mr. Cooper then turned to Hillary Clinton, obviously expecting a response [to the Chaffe comment about her at the debate]: 'Secretary Clinton, do you want to respond?' Her unflinching, and even SMILING, one word answer was one of the most memorable statements and moments of the debate --- 'No !' [she said in reply to Cooper]

It certainly bears repeating that during the so-called "debate," the only person who talked about "credibility" and "ethics" as a necessary trait in a candidate for president was Lincoln Chafee. Mr. Chafee talked about it in his opening remarks; and candidate Chafee talked about it in his closing statement; and, most important, Chafee talked about it in answer to a direct question posed by Anderson Cooper about Hillary Clinton's E-mails being a "huge" problem for her. Chafee also pointed out more than once, that during his entire public life as a mayor, governor and U.S. Senator, he has never been mentioned as part of any scandal --- an implied negative comparison to State senator Clinton.

NO DOG IN THIS FIGHT, BUT IF...

So there you have it. If I had anything close to any dogs in this fight among the Dems, they would have been Chafee and Webb.....

Tuesday, October 13, 2015

The Politico feature says it's about the "... seven-month war within [Hillary's] campaign over the email scandal that just wouldn’t go away..." --- but it is as much about the drip, drip, drip E-mail scandal and Hillary's seven month drop, drop, drop in polling

And, this time, Politico also chose to use a phrase that is 100% WATERGATE --- calling the E-mails scandal >>> "A ‘Cancer’ on the Clinton Candidacy"<<<

The article in "Politico" by Glenn Thrush and Annie Karni sarted with this: "Halfway through her long and humbling summer, Hillary Clinton ran into an old friend who wanted to know how she was bearing up under the pressure of near-daily revelations about the use of her private email server during her time in the State Department. Clinton was unmistakably unhappy.... 'I am having two problems,' she bluntly told the supporter at a social event. 'On the one hand, I feel like I’m rolling out a lot of substantive programs on issues that people care about. We’re getting one day’s news coverage. But there’s nothing larger knitting it together. We’re not breaking through. … And my team needs to get their act together on the email response.'...” (See "A ‘Cancer’ on the Clinton Candidacy..." by Glenn Thrush & Annie Karni, 10/13/15, Politico [http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2015/10/hillary-clinton-2016-emails-213241?o=0]).

The authors go on to observe, ".... Clinton’s frustration with her own campaign staff was striking. So was her refusal for much of the year to characterize the escalating email controversy as anything other than a failure of communications, messaging or the vast right-wing-and-media conspiracy. Both complaints were consistent with what other campaign advisers told us in dozens of interviews for this story—except some of them laid equal blame on the candidate herself...."

THE HEADLINE DOES THE REAL DAMAGE ON THE DAY OF HILLARY'S FIRST DEBATE

Although the Thrush-Karni piece is an exhaustive and workmanlike dismantling of the failed Clinton campaign efforts to put the E-mails problems behind them and their candidate, the bomb of the piece is that part of it's headline which is so reminiscent of the iconic phrase about Richard Nixon's Watergate problem being "... a cancer on the presidency...". The suggestion is clear --- if E-mails are a "Cancer on the Clinton Candidacy" imagine what the "Cancer" on the Hillary Clinton presidency is going to look like.

BRRRRRRRR !!! SCARY STUFF KIDS.....

POLITICO'S ARTICLE DEMONSTRATES THAT HILLARY'S HANDLING OF THE E-MAIL SCANDAL SHOWS-OFF HER BAD JUDGMENT AS MUCH AS HER DECISION TO USE HER PRIVATE E-MAIL SYSTEM IN THE FIRST PLACE --- IT ALSO SHOWS THAT, SO FAR, SHE'S BEEN A VERY BAD CANDIDATE FOR PRESIDENT IN 2015-2016 CYCLE --- WORSE THAN IN 2008

According to Thrush and Karni --- ".... The campaign was becoming just the kind of defensive race none of them, least of all the candidate, expected to be running, and for months and months the emails distracted and diverted a Clinton team that seemed powerless to move beyond the unfolding scandal. While her team bought Clinton’s basic argument that she had done nothing illegal or even fundamentally wrong, it rekindled longstanding concerns about her judgment. It was hard to avoid the view that she had walked right into a trap at a time when the GOP seemed to be imploding in a Trump-shaped mushroom cloud.... 'It sounds crazy, but I think she simply wasn’t equipped to deal with all this,' says one longtime ally who has been in regular contact with Clinton. 'She’s never been a great candidate, OK? She needed time and campaigns don’t give you time.… She was blindsided, and I think only now, after all this crap, is she finally in the right headspace.'... Nearly every one of 50 advisers, donors, Democratic operatives and friends we interviewed for this story thought Clinton was a mediocre candidate who would make a good president, if given the chance. They painted a portrait of a politician who talked about learning from past mistakes while methodically repeating them—a far cry from the formidable shatterer of glass ceilings who had put such a scare into Obama late in the 2008 primaries...."

Saturday, October 10, 2015

Diane Rudiano and Henry Lallave filed a fraudulent certificate with NYC Board of Elections --- Claiming that the the Golden slate won the leadership contest at the 2015 GOP Kings County Convention --- Golden, Rudiano and Lallave must have been counting their street-corner rump meeting outside Remsen Hall, after the convention where their side lost, as the "Official" 2015 Brooklyn GOP Convention on their certification to the BOETHIS POTENTIAL CRIMINAL ACT NEEDS A PROPER CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION OF EVERYBODY INVOLVED

You know the old saw, "Every body is entitled to their own opinion, but not everybody is entitled to their own facts...." Well, Marty Golden and his crew are trying to show the world that they can create their own facts.

How do I know that ?

Well, it all comes out of a FALSE certification filed with the NYC Board of Elections on behalf of the Marty Golden faction by Diane Hazlet Rudiano and Henry Lallave, who claimed to have been the "Temporary Chairs" of the Brooklyn GOP for the 2015 County County Convention.

The problem is that they weren't the "Temporary Chairs"; and their certification to the BOE is fraudulent. It's also probably a serious felony --- since it was officially filed with the purpose of influencing a governmental agency. This is very bad for Mr. Lallave, but it is especially serious for the scandal-plagued Diane Hazlet Rudiano, who has had a checkered career as a Chief Clerk at the BOE, a position she still holds.

For background on this, there is a report posted in "City and State", as follows: ( See "BROOKLYN GOP FACTIONS SUBMIT COMPETING LEADERSHIP BIDS" by Saina Trangle, 10/9/15, City & State [http://www.cityandstateny.com/articles/politics/new-york-city/brooklyn-gop-factions-submit-competing-leadership-bids.html#.VhkvrOxViko]).

Quite apart from any of the issues related to the real 2015 Brooklyn GOP convention, which will be aired in Brooklyn Supreme Court; the false filing with the NYC Board of ELections by Ms. Rudiano minimlly needs investigations by the BOE's Inspector General, the NYC Department of Investigation and the Brooklyn District Attorney.

In the bigger picture, since this obvious "conspiracy" is yet another act of political corruption that could be laid at the door of State Senator Martin Golden, U. S. Attornay Preet Bharara needs to look into all of this very closely, as well.

Thursday, October 8, 2015

Cynical political ploy by Golden & Company perpetrates a hoax on the Kings County Politics blog --- And it also might be part and parcel of a conspiracy orchestrated to trick the courts in upcoming litigation by seeding a false background and narrative Oddly, article suggests a racial component --- AND --- At the same time, it says race won't be brought up in NYS Supreme Court or with the Feds

According to somebody that does the coverage of State Senator Marty Golden and his faction of the Brooklyn GOP, "In the aftermath of the battle between Bay Ridge Sen. Marty Golden and former Kings County Republican Chair Craig Eaton over control of Brooklyn’s Republican Party an elephant was left in the room that neither side appears anxious to exploit – namely that the inside arguing sideswiped Golden’s efforts to recruit more blacks, Hispanic and Asians so the party could be more diverse...." (See "Ethnic And Racial Diversity Takes Hit In Brooklyn GOP Feud" [ most probably by Stephen Witt], 10/8/15, Kings County Politics [http://www.kingscountypolitics.com/ethnic-and-racial-diversity-takes-hit-in-brooklyn-gop-feud/]).

Needless to say, the flaw in that statement, above, or the fly in the ointment, is that anybody connected with the Brooklyn GOP knows that there are and have been no "... Golden’s efforts to recruit more blacks, Hispanic and Asians so the party could be more diverse...."

WHERE DID "KINGS COUNTY POLITICS" GET AN IDEA LIKE THAT ? ? ?

One wonders from whence such a ridiculous notion might pop up --- the answer is clear if you jump to the last paragraphs of the KCP article. When the article shifts to talk of lawsuits, both "Golden's camp" and "a Golden source" are mentioned; and of course, earlier in the article a couple of obvious supporters of State Senator Golden were quoted [with one named "Brandon Washington," actually being identified as "a Golden supporter" in the text].

It is interesting that Stephen Witt's reporting initially focused on Brandon Washington, as follows: ".... 'I don’t think they (proxies) were thrown out simply because a majority of them were from minorities,' said Brandon Washington, the African-American president of the Brooklyn Young Republican Club and a Golden supporter. 'At the end of the day, they were the casualties of war, but it makes the GOP look bad as well.'... Washington, who is not a district leader or part of the county committee picking the new chair, said while Eaton’s camp is more traditional in its GOP makeup, Golden did an excellent job of reaching out to the minority and immigrant community...."

Unfortunately, Mr. Washington has virtually no history or background with the Brooklyn GOP; and he certainly has no knowledge of its attempts to reach out and establish diversity of the sort he attributed to State Senator Martin Golden. In fact, Mr. Washington is a relative newcomer to the fold of the Brooklyn Young Republican Club, becoming Club President on June 28, 2015 and having served as any kind of club officer since only 2014. He was put forward for all his positions in the Brooklyn Young Republican Club by Glenn Nocera, a longtime Golden loyalist, who took an active hand in both of Golden's attempts to take over the Brooklyn GOP, being especially active during both the 2013 and 2015 Kings County Republican conventions. In addition, Nocera himself telegraphed this race angle ploy right after the 2015 Brooklyn GOP Convention [See sub-section below, "GLENN NOCERA QUOTED ON THE SAME TOPIC SHORTLY AFTER THE CONVENTION"].

The descriptions of State Senator Golden's efforts at ethnic outreach are so threadbare as to be laughable. This line is quite telling: ".... Golden [ ] recently made a trip to Bedford-Stuyvesant to meet with African-Americans to try to get more to join the Republican Party...." Seriously, I mean SERIOUSLY ! ! ! Four years of Golden's and his faction's organizing to take over the Brooklyn GOP --- and he "RECENTLY" managed one "... trip to Bedford-Stuyvesant to meet with African-Americans..." [I deleted the word "also" from the quote above because it made no sense --- it is an error of syntax because there was nothing to which "also" might correlate.] Another hollow and meaningless claim is this one: ".... Golden [ ] regularly holds events with the Asian community in his district...." It's a hollow and meaningless claim, because none of those "events with the Asian community" were part of any partisan outreach to increase the depth and diversity of the Brooklyn GOP.

LITIGATION OBVIOUSLY IN MIND --- WHEN THIS MATERIAL WAS PLANTED WITH "KINGS COUNTY POLITICS"

In spite of the disclaimer to the contrary, ".... While many minorities had their proxies tossed out, sources in Golden’s camp said they will continue to pursue the matter in state Supreme Court to have the proxies counted on merit, and don’t expect to take the issue to the federal Justice Department, as Brooklyn is deemed a special voting rights district.... It goes against the values of what Republicans stand for to make a racial issue from this, said a Golden source...."

A similar pattern was followed in 2013, when the Golden faction tried litigating the matter in the press before they brought it into court.

GLENN NOCERA QUOTED ON THE SAME TOPIC SHORTLY AFTER THE CONVENTION

Interestingly, the Courier Life-Brooklyn Daily's report on the Brooklyn GOP Convention quoted Glenn Nocera saying much the same thing as the "Kings County Politics" post, but that was right after the convention --- ".... More than a slap in the face to Golden, the move disenfranchised voters, particularly people of color — whom the national party is actively courting — who overwhelmingly cast their lot with Golden and Ghorra, Nocera said.... 'A large amount of these proxies were African-American and Spanish Republicans who are not getting their voices heard,' Nocera said. 'We’re supposed to be inclusive in a sort of big tent way.'..." (See " Parting shot: Eaton allies smack Golden as GOP chairman departs'" by Max Jaeger, 10/5/15, Courier Life - Brooklyn Daily [http://www.brooklyndaily.com/stories/2015/41/all-new-brooklyn-gop-chief-2015-10-09-bk.html]).

Wednesday, October 7, 2015

When the Clinton Corporation paying for Hillary Clinton's tech services requested a change in the duration of the backup to Hillary Clinton's E-mail and private server, techs at Platte River Networks expressed concerns about a cover-up because of the FBI investigation

According to a CNN report --- "Employees at the company that maintained Hillary Clinton's private email server expressed concern among themselves about the way the former secretary of state's team directed them to manage data backups after the FBI started looking into the arrangements, according to emails obtained by a senator.... In a letter obtained by CNN, Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman Ron Johnson, R-Wisconsin, asks Datto, Inc, the makers of Clinton's server back-up system, for information on how her emails were preserved and protected. The FBI has also sought information from the company, according to sources...." (See "Employees at company working with Clinton email server expressed concerns" by Laura Koran and Evan Perez, 10/7/15, CNN [http://www.cnn.com/2015/10/07/politics/hillary-clinton-emails-platte-river-networks/]).

The CNN article by Laura Koran and Evan Perez continued with this: ".... [Senator] Johnson indicates that a 'Clinton family company,' Clinton Executive Service Corp., paid for the back-up services, operated through a device called the Datto SIRIS S2000, and that the purchase was made by Platte River Networks when the server was moved from her private residence to a New Jersey-based data center in 2013.... In the letter, Johnson quotes from emails sent by and to employees at Platte River Networks, which indicate there was discussion about how the duration of data backups could be reduced, apparently at the direction of the Clinton Executive Service Corp...."

HERE'S THE MONEY SHOT

The CNN article then quoted an "unnamed" Platte River employee as follows: ".... Then this past August, a Platte River Networks employee wrote to a coworker that he was, 'Starting to think this whole thing really is covering up some shaddy (sic) s**t.'... 'I just think if we have it in writing that they told us to cut the backups, and that we can go public with our statement saying we have backups since day one, then we were told to trim to 30days (sic), it would make us look a WHOLE LOT better,' the unnamed employee continued...."

The email from the unnamed Platte River employee was sent shortly after it hit the news that the FBI was doing an investigation into the security of Hillary Clinton's server, and months after it was revealed that Clinton exclusively had used her private E-mail account on her private server to conduct State Department business. The Platte River employee indicated in his/her E-mail that Clinton's team asked Platter River to change the back-up duration between October and February, presumably of 2014/2015 [NB: according to the CNN report, those dates aren't explicitly stated in the portion of the E-mail that was included in Senator Johnson's letter].

Tuesday, October 6, 2015

In what should be a natural alliance to elect a Republican to represent the core of Marty Golden's State Senate District in the NYS Assembly, a new war is brewing between Brooklyn's only home-grown Republican official and the new Brooklyn GOP County Leader

The word is that things are off to a bit of a rocky start between the newly elected KCRP Chairman and Brooklyn's only all-Brooklyn elected Republican public office holder --- and right now, it's all about the 46th A.D. special election and GOP candidate Lucretia Regina-Potter

If a blood feud starts in the GOP in 2015 over Lucretia Regina-Potter's run for the NYS Assembly, it is very likely that there will be some of State Senator Marty Golden's blood on the floor in 2016

A whole bunch of stuff that had been arranged by Arnaldo Ferraro, Lucretia Regina-Potter, Marty Golden, Jerry Kassar and Mike Long to push Lucretia's special election run for the assembly seat in the 46th AD against Democrat Pam Harris has been "back-burnered" since Dr. Ferraro defeated State Senator Golden's choice for County Chairman at the 2015 Republican County Convention.

This has left the new GOP County Chairman and his 46th AD District Leader scurrying to backfill in what is now a very short campaign season. Meanwhile, it looks like Golden, Kassar and Long are suddenly content to sit on their hands and let Democrat Pam Harris, a Coney Island area community activist become the next assmblyperson for the heart of their Bay Ridge, Dyker Heights stronghold.

In the short run, that's what Marty Golden seems to want more than anything else. However, this time it is more likely to bring significant longtime negative repercussions for the Conservative-Republican State Senator from Bay Ridge. As the new GOP County Leader, Arnaldo is far more like to get openly involved in a vendetta against Golden than his predecessor Craig Eaton. In fact, when it was originally planned that Dr Ferraro would become the next Chairman of the Brooklyn GOP, this very scenario was very much expected; thus "The 2016 Vendetta" was an unspoken but expected part of the plan.

In any case Marty Golden's war on his Republican County Leader moves into a new phase; and the Brooklyn GOP Chairman's war on Golden will continue for another two years, or until Golden is defeated, whichever comes first.

Friday, October 2, 2015

For the second election cycle in a row, Brooklyn's only home-grown Republican office holder, State Senator Martin Golden, tried and failed to engage in a hostile takeover of the Brooklyn GOP's political apparatus

Going into the 2015 Republican organizational primary season Golden was probably at his high-water mark of political power and influence; nonetheless, given the results earlier this week at the GOP 2015 County Convention, Golden's 2015 performance was a "Classic Fail" --- and since it was almost identical to what he did in 2013 --- That makes it >>> a "Double-Dip Classic Fail"

As bad as this looks for Golden inside the GOP --- this is probably much worse than what might be immediately obvious --- and good staff work by a good staff would never have let it happen

Doesn't anybody on the Golden team know or care about the fact that State Senator Golden is under investigation for a variety of acts of political corruption --- Why would anybody allow their boss, friend, political ally, man who runs the gravy train, whatever puts them on the Golden team or causes Marty Golden to float their boat, create a new mountain of EVIDENCE of political corruption for U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara and his investigators to dig into ?

I'm not on the Golden team, and I certainly am not a Marty Golden insider. If I were, I'd have chapter and verse on a lot more than what I have written below. In other words, there are many folks on the Marty Golden Team that would make far better potential witnesses for the prosecution than I would be..... And that's not a good thing for Mr. Golden, especially with somebody like Preet Bharara and his investigators snooping around god-knows-where for who-knows-what.

PETITIONING AND OTHER PRE-PRIMARY MATTERS

I'm going to begin with a time frame that is post-2015 GOP Primary. The reason for that is whatever procedural and substantive shortcomings occurred in Golden's recruitment of candidates for the 2015-2017 Republican County Committee, and the vetting of, petitioning for and submission of petitions to the Board of Elections are matters completely known only by those Golden operatives that ran the petitioning effort. The extent that those recruitment efforts focused on BOE emplyees would be particularly problematic [especially in connection with several matters discussed below]. Other irregularities would largely have merged into the 2015 administrative and in some instances adversary proceedings conducted at the BOE and the records of those matters maintained by the BOE.

The Golden petitioning and election law team, and the BOE control all the pre-primary materials that still might exist; and whatever skulduggery might have occurred at the BOE, such as the mass elimination of several candidates not on the Golden team slate, would involve a complex conspiracy that I am neither able to describe nor about which I could show anything close to proof. Furthermore, the pre-primary goings-on were not nearly as widely reported upon in 2015 as they had been in prior years.

AFTER THE PRIMARY BUT BEFORE THE CONVENTION --- THE BROOKLYN BOE, COERCION AND R.I.C.O.

Interestingly, some of the post-primary-pre-convention activities that I will discuss did occur at the BOE for Brooklyn. In the run-up to the 2015 Kings County Republican Convention, some of the BOE employees at the Brooklyn office were harassed and even threatened in their jobs if they weren't with the winning team at the upcoming GOP convention. It was made perfectly clear that the "winning team" was the one backing Golden's choice at the convention or giving their proxies to Golden at the convention.
My sources indicated that this was done by many of the BOE employees and supervisors at the Board that were also County Committee members. Particularly mentioned as being part of the mix were Diane Rudiano, a long-time chief clerk at the Brooklyn office, thus viewed by many as the boss, and Koshel Choudry, another supervisor at the Brooklyn BOE.

Harassment of an employee by threats of job loss to influence a vote or other political activity is a crime in New York State. If any evidence of that could be tied directly or indirectly to Mr. Golden, it would be more than scandalous; it would be proof of involvement by the State Senator in criminal activities and conspiracies. And, given the ongoing nature of the enterprise, R.I.C.O violations [remember, in the 2013 was the strange destruction of petitions of an anti- Golden group, supervised by BOE emplyees with connections to Golden, and also involving Golden's hand-picked BOE Commissioner Simon Shamoun in an after the fact cover-up].

DURING THE CONVENTION --- MARTY GOLDEN'S PERSONAL INVOLVEMENT AND LEADERSHIP --- ALONG WITH DIANE RUDIANO & MOST OF THE B.O.E. EMPLOYEES PRESENT

Marty Golden's biggest blunder so far in 2015 was personally handing in over 400 proxies to the Credentials Committee for the 2015 Kings County County Committee Convention. Several of those proxies were apparently fraudulently dated and/or contained other visible irregularities. Golden's tender of the arguably fraudulent proxies is now a matter of record that clearly involves him in a possible election fraud, that evidence is in now the hands of the KCRP. And it seems obvious, that the other details and additional evidence of that potential fraud are completely under the control of Golden and the people on Golden's convention team [remember some of them, Golden's staff and lawyers, were in the clown car outside Remsen Hall during the convention].
Needless to say State Senator Martin Golden's activities didn't end with his tender of over 400 problematic proxies. The New York State Senator led a faction of delegates that repeatedly attempted to disrupt the orderly process of the convention, often involving State Senator Golden's attempting to deliver out-of-order inflammatory speeches. More significant, Golden's efforts to do his song and dance was completely supported by most of the BOE-employed delegates at the convention, and they were orchestrated and led by Diane Rudiano. Oddly, one of Rudiano's own chants was this: "We are entitled to legal representation...." The Convention Chairman pointed out that Ms. Rudiano and her cohort were not in any kind of criminal proceeding, and also the rules didn't provide for any non-member legal assistance "on the floor." [ To which, let me add, "No legal representation is called for yet, Diane, but maybe in due course....."]

A complete record of these goings-on is completely under control of the Golden team, in the form of a complete recording of the proceedings by Glenn Nocera, who was a County Committee Member affiliated with Golden and a nominee on the Golden-supported slate of officers.

AFTER THE CONVENTION --- AN ATTEMPT BY GOLDEN TO RECONVENE WITH ONLY HIS FACTION

After the end of the normal business day, when all the scheduled business of 2015 Brooklyn GOP Convention had been completed and proceeding brought to a close, and after many of the members of the Kings County Republican County Committee had vacated the premises, the Golden faction, led by Golden himself, attempted to reconvene the 2015 GOP County Convention in a fraudulent attempt to engage in some ulta vires activity in the name of the Brooklyn GOP. There are reports that Mr. Golden even attempted to immediately re-rent Remsen Hall to "continue" the convention.

If Marty Golden's staff, advisers and inner circle had any political, practical or legal sense, they would never have let the overought State Senator do any of what was discussed above {and also a lot of stuff that wasn't mentioned in this post].
If Preet Bhara wanted to, all of this could be used in a variety of ways to advance any potential prosecution of Golden and/or others near to Golden.

Enough said for now..... More if and when we get it, and it's worth putting out there.

About Me

I formerly have commented on various political blogs concerning Republican politics. Although the focus of my political commentary has been on the Brooklyn GOP and other aspects of politics in Brooklyn, I have also posted commentary about national matters.
If you wish to contact Galewyn Massey directly, please, Email to galewynmasban@gmail.com